Deep Space Wandering Fleet-Chapter 573 - 570: The Truth!

The warrior was frantic, wanting to tap the screen but then he halted mid-air.

"Be careful, don’t just randomly touch things!" The commander slapped him, then thought for a few seconds, "Little Ding, you’re up."

The engineering soldier hesitated, having trained for only a few months regarding the Virtual World. In comparison to the immense and complex Virtual World Technology, the knowledge he had was less than one ten-thousandth of it all.

But at this moment, they had to make do; he pondered over and over, yet he couldn’t find anything suspicious...

The captain was getting impatient, "Is it a message or not? If it’s not, let’s just retreat!"

"Captain, a real Virtual World wouldn’t just collapse easily as long as the power isn’t cut off... I think it must be a message left by these people."

"Open it!"

Gathering his courage, he tried to click on it and sure enough, a stream of text popped up!

"To the future humans who arrive here, greetings!"

"We are pleased you could make it here, and hope... that you have come in time."

"I am the last Governor within this Human Base, Lin Yingdong."

"We have to tell you an extremely unfortunate truth: in the past few decades, the total number of humans in our branch who entered the Virtual World is 51,028,823, and the number who refused to enter is 60,121."

"...In the vast number of Hibernation Chambers outside, these people have already lost their Self-awareness. Even if thawed, they would only be left with vegetative bodies."

"A man-eating beast has consumed fifty-one million, one hundred and twenty-nine thousand people, regardless of old folks or children."

"If studied under New Civilization History, our branch has indeed fallen into the depths of a Sinking Civilization." novelbuddy-cσ๓

"We know this fact yet cannot change it. Our remaining 60,121 people cannot maintain all aspects of this society, a reality that fills us with extreme dejection."

"It is a great societal tragedy."

"You may be shocked by the state of the entire Underground City and may find it unbelievable that humans, who diligently received a good education, could fall so thoroughly in such a short time, but it has happened irreversibly. Many people developed depression and sought refuge in the Virtual World."

"We could no longer continue to work... and so we too entered cryogenic sleep."

"However, this period of history is not meaningless, I believe you will draw lessons from this disaster and find the motivation to move forward."

"We have encased ourselves in Hibernation Chamber B-1434-12, hoping that upon your arrival, you can thaw us and integrate us into a better society. We wish to live a normal life, not sinking day by day into deeper despair..."

"Next is the explanation of how our society came to be in this state. Why the normal societal inertia completely vanished, turning into a Sinking Civilization within a few decades."

"We hope this will serve as a reference for you..."

"..."

The inhuman reality left all the warriors chilled to the bone, their hair standing on end. Were it not for the upright support of their Power Armor, they would hardly be able to stand.

Over fifty million people, gone just like that!

It was simply terrifying!

Some of the more astute warriors finally understood what the captain meant by "being consumed."

They were devoured by the technology of the Virtual World, this sinister Black Technology!

"Captain, there are still people alive."

The so-called Hibernation Chamber B-1434-12 was nearby, and from the outside, it was impossible to distinguish whether these hibernating people still had Self-awareness.

After some contemplation, the captain said, "Let’s move out, let’s go... Can this document be copied?"

"Should be able to."

A small squad of soldiers, incapable of doing anything else, their sole mission was to bring back the message.

About two hours had passed before this group of warriors reemerged from the Underground City, their emotions subdued.

Tears filled the eyes of these young people, who struggled not to cry out loud.

It was too horrifying!

Such a humanitarian disaster was beyond their imagination, surpassing any old and new grudges; even the squad leader had a solemn face, silent...

The black technology had innocently lain hidden for thousands of years as humanity carefully gambled with it, exhausting their wisdom, teetering on the brink.

But in a moment of collective relaxation, it had finally bared its most ferocious fangs—a young branch of humanity, only four hundred years old, was completely annihilated.

When they finally reached the surface, seeing the numerous soldiers waiting outside allowed everyone to breathe a sigh of relief.

It was too oppressive, the atmosphere in the Underground City was unbearably tense. Just thinking about those over fifty million vegetative people without self-awareness made one’s scalp tingle and heart feel as though it was crushed under a mountain of weight!

The soldier squad leader spoke a few words to Diplomat Shen Chao and showed the data they had collected, including the video footage taken along the way.

Mr. Diplomat’s complexion changed dramatically, realizing their small population couldn’t possibly rescue the more than fifty million people still frozen below. Moreover, they had no authority to make decisions about such a monumental issue...

However, at this moment, they couldn’t simply return to base.

Several reporters trembled, too scared to even breathe, yet driven by professional instinct, they wanted to go down and see for themselves. But such horrors were enough to make every cell in their body shiver with cold.

Keeping his composure, the Diplomat ordered, "First, go check the power systems to see how much longer they can last. This base has not been maintained for a long time; do not let it completely lose power, otherwise, the people in the hibernation chambers and the quantum consciousnesses in the Virtual World will all die!"

"No matter what, we must preserve the power supply for those hibernation chambers and the central supercomputers!"

"The communication soldiers should send back all the data immediately, informing the main base behind us. We... will reside here for a while; I believe help will arrive soon."

"Understood!" The soldiers saluted in unison.

...

Meanwhile, inside the Kunlun Mountain branch where Zhang Yuan was located, the internet had already exploded with commotion. For unknown reasons, the livestream was suddenly cut off!

Immediately, there were discussions about organizing a rescue squad to save the overwhelmed diplomats.

Some busybodies noticed the tears in the soldiers’ eyes from the final screenshots... Amidst the cluttered discussions and rampant rumors, it was clear that something big had happened, something monumental!

Upon learning the terrifying truth, government departments urgently convened the largest meeting in recent years: Over fifty million people had been consumed by the Virtual World!

Such a possibility had been speculated about in the past, but its actual occurrence was still inconceivable.

Ten hours later, new developments arrived from the front, and after repeatedly confirming the veracity of the news, government officials somberly disclosed to the public the greatest disaster in human history caused by Black Technology...

Twelve hours later, a total of 16 Transport Ships launched, carrying approximately 20,000 doctors, along with engineers responsible for power and spaceship maintenance, beginning the emergency rescue.

Three months later, sixty thousand survivors were revived from hibernation and returned to health.

The former Mother Ship "Radiant Galaxy," carrying this group of people, returned to the main base.

People had acquired a large Mother Ship out of nowhere, but joy was far from their hearts. Instead, they were engulfed in palpable panic. As the secret information was widely disclosed, the impact of this disaster rapidly spread throughout the entire society...

...